XI 
THE UNITED STATES COMMISSION OF FISH 
AND FISHERIES 
AIRD had evinced an interest in fishes very early in 
B his career, as indicated in a previous chapter. The 
tentative understanding with Prof. Louis Agassiz, 
looking toward a monograph of the fishes of North Amer- 
ica, still further stimulated his interest and his collections 
grew rapidly. In the summer of 1854, a vacation was taken 
at Beesley’s Point, New Jersey, primarily in the hope that 
the climate would benefit Mrs. Baird. The Professor 
collected with great success, as indicated by his Report 
on the fishes observed.!. A second summer at the same 
locality was chiefly devoted to collecting fishes. In the 
summer of 1863, he visited Wood’s Hole, Mass., for the 
first time and the richness of the fauna,—due to the 
mingling of the fishes and other animals from the warm 
waters of the Gulf Stream with those characteristic of 
the colder northern waters,—was vividly brought to his 
attention. Miss Lucy Baird observes: 
““My father had begun making collections of fish for 
several years previous to his coming to Washington. At 
first the interest was simply that of making acquaintance 
with the subject; and of course when he had once begun 
to make a collection, his natural tendency was to try to 
make it as complete as possible. This latter motive was, 
of course, greatly strengthened when he ceased to collect 
simply for himself and began to bend his energies towards 
1 Smithsonian Report for 1854, Washington, 1855, 40 pp., 8°. 
416 
